The Story of~Fallout (Part 1: Pre-War Era)
Fallout is a video game that was created as a turn-based RPG (similar to the Final Fantasy series) where it takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. Throughout the years of the video game series, it has developed very deep lore where it told stories of not just certain characters but also what times were like before the world was destroyed. This is what this page will cover, the Fallout series' prelude which is known as the Pre-War Era in the games. Now, you may be asking "What is the Pre-War Era"? Basically (and as said before) it's the game series' prelude. They have events of this era where it tells what happens from the point of divergence to an event known in the game like The Great War, or simply put a Nuclear Holocaust. It's also in the Pre-War Era where the world (or at least in the United States of America) maintains it's visage of the 1950s (e.g., The Four-Member Suburban Families living "The American Dream", White Picket Fences and Green Hedges, Jukebox diners with their Cheeseburgers and Milkshakes coming in Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry and even "The Red Scare", yes The Red Scare. Where the Americans were in fear of a Communist takeover and it's the USA's job to rid the world of Communism). Nevertheless, technology (especially war technology) continued to develop. Now, without further ado, here is the story of the Pre-War Era. Point of Divergence The History of the world in the Fallout games play out almost like in our world. However, it is believed that the point of divergence from the history of our world was sometime around the year 1969. In that year, the USA in an attempt to stop political turmoil and better organize the Government. It has decided to group all of its 50 states into 13 Commonwealths. The American Commonwealth is more powerful than the state, but just below the power of the US Government. Unfortunately, this decision would prove to be counterproductive as the Commonwealths will soon compete against each other, and make the government weaker. Sometime after that, Western Europe decided to do the same, group their nations into separate commonwealths. As with Communism, the USSR (unlike in the real world) it remains politically stable even to the late 20th century. Nevertheless, it loses much of its military power, and whatever the USSR loses China finds it gains military power. Not only does China surpass the USSR as being the huge Communist military power, but it also continues the Cold War. With this, the USA now has a brand new opponent on the Global Stage, and even by the end of the 20th Century the USA still has its foreign policy to do anything to wipe the Earth clean of Communism. Resource Wars As the 21st century begins, the Cold War remains......well......cold. But it won't be until the mid 21st century that when things around the world begin to heat up. By this time, the oil supplies around the world begin to run low, a series of energy crises would soon ensue and be the top news around the world. While the energy crises are happening the USA gets ever more hostile towards its allies and neighbors as the nation begins to not just lash out but also make tough decisions. This point was made brutally clear when a documentary was released regarded as how in the Texas Commonwealth that oil was once an abundant resource has now disappeared. With this the USA then blames Mexico for destabilizing the southern border and placed a series of embargoes on it, thus Mexico was put into a volatile state and this allows the USA to invade the vulnerable nation and put it under occupation (but not fully annex it). But these crises are also in other places around the world. In response to these energy crises, the Middle East nations become more and more stingy about their oil fields. This forces the European Commonwealth to invade the Middle East and in April of 2052, the Resource Wars begin. Both the Europeans and the Arabians who fight in this war would suffer immense casualties, on top of that (and already suffering from internal pressure, The United Nations officially disbanded 3 months after the war began. The war would rage on for around 8 years until the oil fields of the Middle East would run out. A limited Nuclear War would also occur as most of the Middle Eastern cities were destroyed. Because the European Commonwealth would come up empty-handed in the Middle East, the Commonwealth would disband and fall into a Civil War, basically fighting over what energy-producing resources were left by 2060. Project Safehouse In response to the limited Nuke conflict in the Middle East, the USA had approved to make around 122 underground nuclear bunkers called Vaults which were headed by a company called Vault-Tec in what was officially known as "The Societal Preservation Program" (Or how it's known more commonly as "Project Safehouse"). The purpose of these vaults is to house entire communities in case any kind of Nuclear Conflict were to occur, and Vault-Tec along with another US Corporation called RobCo (some kind of Company responsible for creating Robots) built the vaults. Sino-American War As the 2060s wore on, the oil supplies continue to dwindle and the energy crises, as well as food and water shortages and other resources, continue to worsen. Eventually, the oil fields of Alaska became the only place for ample and cheap oil. Soon, Alaska became a place of interest for China who wants these oil fields. Of course, this would concern the USA and in response, they built a defense net which is known as the Anchorage Frontline in hopes that will divert Chinese forces. They also deploy troops to Canada to protect the Alaskan Oil Pipeline which also concerns Canada and the USA's relationship with their northern neighbors begins to deteriorate. In 2066, the Chinese eventually invade Alaska and thus begins the second phase of the Resource Wars: The Sino-American War. Just like the war between Europe and the Arabian region, the Americans and the Chinese would fight a long and deadly battle over oil. This war would also see advancements in American War Technology as they would build warrior robots and even something called Power Armor. '' '' The American Military's Power Armor gives one infantry unit the firepower and the protection of a tank with its heavy metallic parts and giving the person inside the strength of several men (as they can carry miniguns). By 2067, the T-45d Models were deployed to fight in the war in Alaska, but it's slow speed made the armor something to be desired, it wouldn't be until around 9 years later when the US Military would make improvements and eventually they made the more iconic T-51b Models. Even with the advancements, the US Military had with their Power Armor and warrior robots, the War would continue. Worse yet, the US Military needed a better route to send troops into Alaska to fight the Chinese, this causes the already sour relationship between the USA and Canada to reach the breaking point, plus Canada would also have to no choice but to allow US Troops in their nation and by 2076 Canada was officially annexed by the USA. With this new Power Armor. The US Military conducted a mission to invade the Chinese mainland with some of the Military's elite Power Armor Units. The mission is to cause so much damage and casualties on the Chinese Mainland that the Chinese Military would be forced to pull all of their troops out of Alaska. The mission was a major success, the Elite Power Armor units caused enough damage in China that the Chinese Military retreated from Alaska, allowing the USA to reclaim it by early 2077. With Alaska liberated, the American people celebrated the victory as most believed that with an American victory that the wars were finally over. Unfortunately, the peace would not last as the energy crises and shortages of food, water, and other supplies got so bad in the US, that the US Military was deployed to quell people that were rioting in the streets of the US' major cities (even some elite Power Armor Units). But even the crises in America are nothing to what is yet to come. The Great War Just after midnight on October 23 still in the year 2077, the US Navy has detected Chinese Submarines heading towards the Mojave Commonwealth (formerly California), around 3 hours later the US Air Force detected a squadron of bombers heading to Alaska, around 6 hours after that, the Integrated Operational Nuclear Detection System spot 4 possible Nuclear missiles, NORAD goes to DEFCON 2. Just 4 minutes later, NORAD confirms Nuclear Missile Launches and then goes to DEFCON 1. The US President authorizes the use of Nuclear Weapons. This begins The Great War. Now, who deployed the first nuke of this war is still unclear, but despite the war lasting for just a bit over 2 hours, the damage was unimaginable: Every Major City in the Northern Hemisphere was destroyed, millions have died (even in the US as most didn't flee to the nearby vaults). So many Nukes were detonated in actually changed the Planet Earth itself. Not only did these Nukes radiate the ground, the water, and the atmosphere, but it also caused an unnatural shift in the Earth's Tectonic Plates. And so, that is how the Pre-War era ended. Basically what was feared during the Cold War in our world. But The Great War in the Fallout game series *didn't* mean "The End of The World", just an "End of an Era". People did survive: either those lucky or smart enough (or both) fled to the Vaults or either being out of the projected blast zones of the Nukes. That is why this story will continue as either Vault Dwellers across......what is left of the USA. Or people just lucky enough to survive, and you'll read about new factions that rose from the ashes of Pre-War America as well as land now full of radiated monsters (former humans or animals) as well as strong beings called "super mutants". This is where I will leave part 1 of this series. You can continue reading about the series by clicking on this link. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.